Doing research at one school while studying in another!

[m4medicine]

I will be starting as an osteopathic medicine student come fall. As I prepare for med school, I catch myself thinking about the possibility of conducting research at a nearby medical school that has vastly superior research facilities compared to mine.

Firstly, I am wondering if the school that I want to get involved in research at would be open to having another school’s student on their team. Do schools generally frown upon this? I know that this would probably differ from school to school. But if anyone has juggled academics at one school and research at another, I would greatly appreciate if they could share how they went about doing it.

Next, I am wondering about the timeline of doing so. I know that I would have to contact PI’s in one way or another. I am thinking about when to do so. I have quite a bit of free time on my hands right now and can devote efforts to finding a PI who could take me on before med school kicks in. Or do you guys think that I should wait till school starts, or even a year or two into school, to do this?

I would greatly appreciate any input from people who have been in a similar situation and successfully tackled it. Thanks a lot!

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[Elevencents]

PI's will take whatever free labor they can get. I'm also a DO student and just started research at a nearby MD school. They were thrilled to have me. As you said, this may vary from PI to PI but I would imagine most are mainly receptive.

I would contact them several months prior to wanting to start research. There are generally hoops to jump through before you can get started so if you wait until you want to actually do research you will spend quality time twiddling your thumbs until the necessary paperwork goes through.

 

[m4medicine]

PI's will take whatever free labor they can get. I'm also a DO student and just started research at a nearby MD school. They were thrilled to have me. As you said, this may vary from PI to PI but I would imagine most are mainly receptive.

I would contact them several months prior to wanting to start research. There are generally hoops to jump through before you can get started so if you wait until you want to actually do research you will spend quality time twiddling your thumbs until the necessary paperwork goes through.

That makes me quite a bit hopeful. And also, pull my socks up right now. Thanks!

Also, how would you suggest I go about contacting the PI's? I've written individual emails to a few but with limited success. My emails generally include a description of my background, some selling points like my MCAT score etc, my specific interest in their work, and any experience that I have that I could bring to the table. Should I include more information? Such as read one of their research papers and quote from it in the email? I'm generally trying to keep the emails short so I do not put the PIs off even before the read my entire thing. But given my limited success till now, I'm wondering if I should do it differently.

Also, instead of emailing, I was thinking about going a bit stalkerish and meeting them in person as our first instance of contact. Do you think this might show more initiative than just emailing them? Or would it be a little off putting?

Sorry for the barrage of questions and thank you for your help!

 

[DoctorKrieger]

You got a 39 on the MCAT and are at a DO school--are you just that into OMM?

 

[m4medicine]

You got a 39 on the MCAT and are at a DO school--are you just that into OMM?

Well, I applied really, really late during the application cycle and am grateful for the acceptance that I have.

 

[jaguar33]

It is very doable, email PI's around christmas for summer positions. You are probably putting them off by adding so much stuff. Just say you are a medical student at (insert school) and are interested in doing summer research in their lab if possible. If they want more information (CV etc.) they will ask for it when they respond.

 

[DoctorKrieger]

Well, I applied really, really late during the application cycle and am grateful for the acceptance that I have.

Ah okay, that's just a pretty extreme outlier so I had to ask! To somewhat address your question it is not unusual, especially for DO students, to have to go to nearby institutions for research experience. You may have to cold call/email a bunch of PIs before you find one that will respond, but everyone loves free labor.
Enjoy your last weeks of summer, get into the groove of med school, and once you're settled into that, go seek research opportunities. If you haven't already, think about if you'd rather do bench or clinical research. If you search this forum you should find plenty of similar threads.

 

[kenjixshadow]

X

 

[Elevencents]

I simply told him I was interested in research. I think quoting their work sounds like brown nosing to the extreme, but some may get off on that.

 

[m4medicine]

I simply told him I was interested in research. I think quoting their work sounds like brown nosing to the extreme, but some may get off on that.

I'll avoid that extreme then. Thanks for your input! I appreciate it.

 

[m4medicine]

Ah okay, that's just a pretty extreme outlier so I had to ask! To somewhat address your question it is not unusual, especially for DO students, to have to go to nearby institutions for research experience. You may have to cold call/email a bunch of PIs before you find one that will respond, but everyone loves free labor.
Enjoy your last weeks of summer, get into the groove of med school, and once you're settled into that, go seek research opportunities. If you haven't already, think about if you'd rather do bench or clinical research. If you search this forum you should find plenty of similar threads.

No Problem! I'm all for asking and answering questions.

I'm actually doing bench research right now, though its aim is to translate our work into a viable therapeutic intervention. I'm thinking of moving to more directly translational/clinical research areas. Will see how that works out.

Thanks a lot for your input!

 

[DrEnderW]

This is zero issue. I've been doing it more 2 years myself. I highly, highly recommend seeking research elsewhere at major institutions.

 

[sunealoneal]

Well, I applied really, really late during the application cycle and am grateful for the acceptance that I have.

If you don't mind me asking, why didn't you just wait for the next cycle to start? I'm sure you've given this with a great deal of thought, but a DO school doesn't seem like the right choice for research oriented students.

 

[m4medicine]

If you don't mind me asking, why didn't you just wait for the next cycle to start? I'm sure you've given this with a great deal of thought, but a DO school doesn't seem like the right choice for research oriented students.

You're right, a more research heavy school might have been a better choice. I didn't have concrete plans for this year and didn't want to put off school if I wasn't going to do something significant. Also, chances of admission as a re applicant are lower than as a first time applicant. Since I had already applied this cycle, I didn't want to give up a sure shot at medicine for a chance.

 

[m4medicine]

This is zero issue. I've been doing it more 2 years myself. I highly, highly recommend seeking research elsewhere at major institutions.

Have you been doing it during school or during the summers? I'm trying to figure out how hard it might be to simultaneously do classwork and research. And I fully intend to seek a good position at a research heavy institution, touch wood.

 

[DrEnderW]

Have you been doing it during school or during the summers? I'm trying to figure out how hard it might be to simultaneously do classwork and research. And I fully intend to seek a good position at a research heavy institution, touch wood.

My personal thoughts would be to not commit too hard during early first year. Wait until you know you're doing well and have adjusted first. Learning the material and getting a successful routine is first priority. I wrapped up some light research during that time but nothing crazy. I did a lot during M1-M2 summer carrying through second year and beyond. Look for clinical research that can be done on your own time. Not only is it easier to publish, but it's nice to not be strapped to a lab/experiment schedule. It's nice to write collected data on your own time. It can also be done long distance, which is nice if you're looking outside your home institution.

 

[JimmyB123]

I don't want to create another thread to ask this question but....what is the best way to find clinical research opportunities during your preclinical years? Cold call? Email?

 

[m4medicine]

My personal thoughts would be to not commit too hard during early first year. Wait until you know you're doing well and have adjusted first. Learning the material and getting a successful routine is first priority. I wrapped up some light research during that time but nothing crazy. I did a lot during M1-M2 summer carrying through second year and beyond. Look for clinical research that can be done on your own time. Not only is it easier to publish, but it's nice to not be strapped to a lab/experiment schedule. It's nice to write collected data on your own time. It can also be done long distance, which is nice if you're looking outside your home institution.

Thanks for your advice! I'm definitely not looking to do extensive research m during my first year. Once school gets going and I have a clear idea of how much time I can devote to research, then I'll go full throttle. However, I'm thinking that it'll be nice to get my foot in the door at the neighboring university doing anything to help me get a position that I really want eventually, whether it's during the summer after my first year or later. And it might be nice to have a reference from a researcher come time for serious project searching.

Do you have any advice on which areas/specialities of medicine I should concentrate on when I am first starting out in clinical research. I do not have any preconceived ideas about the speciality that I want to get into after med school. I feel i should start out as broadly as possible and then narrow my focus over the course of my next years. However, I do realize that that might not be entirely possible.

 

[m4medicine]

It is very doable, email PI's around christmas for summer positions. You are probably putting them off by adding so much stuff. Just say you are a medical student at (insert school) and are interested in doing summer research in their lab if possible. If they want more information (CV etc.) they will ask for it when they respond.

I'm seriously thinking about writing my cold emails this short. Thanks for the advice!

 

[m4medicine]

PI's will take whatever free labor they can get. I'm also a DO student and just started research at a nearby MD school. They were thrilled to have me. As you said, this may vary from PI to PI but I would imagine most are mainly receptive.

I would contact them several months prior to wanting to start research. There are generally hoops to jump through before you can get started so if you wait until you want to actually do research you will spend quality time twiddling your thumbs until the necessary paperwork goes through.

Your last paragraph is the reason I want to do research searching right now as opposed to when I actually want to do the research work. I want my name out there to get the process rolling even though I might not be able to get much of the work done during my first year.